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12/8/14: New York Rangers 4 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (OT)

Pittsburgh ContributionsP. Martin – gets the puck along the right-side boards at the Penguins blue line after the Rangers pushed it through the neutral zone, then moves it up the boards to Downie on the other side of the red lineS. Downie – stops the puck with his back facing the Rangers zone and flips it over the Rangers blue line towards the middle of the ice for Crosby entering the offensive zoneS. Crosby – picks up Downie’s pass skating into the middle of the Rangers zone, skates it into the high slot, and then pushes the puck to the left for Spaling skating into the plapyN. Spaling – steps into a slapshot as the puck reaches the top of the left faceoff circle and his shot beats Lundqvist over his glove

NY Rangers FaultsR. McDonagh – strays too far to the right-side boards, so he’s out of position when Crosby gets the puck, which forces Girardi to step up on Crosby while watching Spaling instead of just playing Spaling, which allows Spaling to get the puck/shot on net

1st Rangers Goal (Miller), Even

NY Rangers ContributionsD. Moore – follows Martin closely through the neutral zone towards the Rangers zone and smacks the puck away from him, sending it back towards the right-side boards at the Penguins blue lineM. St. Louis – picks up the loose puck entering the right side of the Penguins zone, carries it down to the right faceoff dot, opens up his blade as if he’s going to shoot the puck, then centers the puck to the slot for MillerJ. Miller – fires the pass from St. Louis past Fleury’s right arm before he can get across the crease

Pittsburgh FaultsP. Martin – carries the puck up the middle of the ice and fans on it/loses control of it, allowing Moore to smack it away from him back towards the Penguins zoneR. Klinkhammer – can’t keep up with Miller going to the slot and tries to lift his stick instead of trying to block off the pass as well

NY Rangers ContributionsD. Brassard – reaches into a battle along the boards behind the goal line for the puck in the Rangers zone, pulls the puck out, and passes it up to Rick Nash at the faceoff circle in the Rangers zoneR. Nash – takes a couple of strides forward and then moves the puck to his left to Zuccarello (cont.), skates past Dumoulin when he misses the puck, picks it up for a breakaway on Fleury, dekes to his forehand and then his backhand, then tries to slide the puck past Fleury’s left pad, which stops Nash’s original shot but Nash pushes the puck past Fleury’s skate on a second chanceM. Zuccarello – skates the puck to the Rangers blue line and then flips it into the air to the Penguins blue line, where Dumoulin tries to kick at it with his skate and misses it as it hops past

Pittsburgh FaultsB. Dumoulin – tries to step up on the puck as it lands at the Penguins blue line from Zuccarello’s flip, but the puck bounces past his right skate and to Nash, who then gets an open lane to Fleury by himself

3rd Rangers Goal (Hayes), Even

NY Rangers ContributionsK. Hayes – blocks Dumoulin’s attempt to get the puck deep into the Rangers zone with his chest, drops the puck in front of him at the Rangers blue line, skates it into the Penguins zone on a 2-on-1 with Nash on his right, takes it to the crease where he loses control of it and Fleury makes a left pad save, then pushes the rebound past Fleury’s outstretched left pad as he beats Martin to the puckR. Nash – joins Hayes on the 2-on-1 into the Penguins zone, which forces Martin to play the pass as Hayes drives to the net for the goal

Pittsburgh FaultsB. Dumoulin – gets the puck at the right point in the Rangers zone and tries to quickly turn and throw it the opposite corner of the zone, but throws it right into the chest of Hayes, who then skates it out of the zone as Dumoulin is caught flat-footed and can’t catch up as the Rangers skate into the Penguins zone on a 2-on-1P. Martin – tries to clear the rebound off of Fleury’s pad, but loses the battle to Hayes, who slides the puck into the net

2nd Penguins Goal (Malkin), Even

Pittsburgh ContributionsB. Comeau – With a loose puck to the right of the Rangers net after Lundqvist made a save, Comeau shoves both McDonagh and St. Louis over the puck with the puck in between McDonagh’s skates, allowing Sutter to get the loose puckB. Sutter – grabs the loose puck along the goal line to the right of the Rangers net, pulls it away from Stepan, and then centers it to the front of the crease for MalkinE. Malkin – shoots the puck over Lundqvist’s right pad before he has a chance to react

NY Rangers FaultsR. McDonagh – misses the puck as it’s bouncing next to the net and then gets in the way of St. Louis (partially due to Comeau’s shove) so that he can’t play the puck and Sutter ends up with itD. Stepan – leaves Malkin on the crease to reach for the puck when Sutter has it, which leaves him not covering Malkin and not blocking the passing lane between Sutter and Malkin either

3rd Penguins Goal (Downie), Even

Pittsburgh ContributionsS. Downie – tries to shoot a puck into the Rangers zone from the neutral zone, but has it deflected into the air by Nash into the middle of the Rangers zone, where Staal tries to play it (cont.), skates to the loose puck at the inside edge of the right faceoff circle and fires it under Lundqvist through the mass of bodiesN. Spaling – skates to the loose puck in Staal’s skates, forcing him to turn around and knock the puck into an open area in the slot accidentally with his skate while both Staal and Zuccarello also followed Spaling to the net

NY Rangers FaultsM. Staal – fans on the bouncing puck in the middle of the Rangers zone, then loses it in his skates, and finally knocks it back into the slot with his skate where Downie can step into the shot

4th Rangers Goal (Klein), Even

NY Rangers ContributionsK. Klein – gets to a loose puck in the right corner of the Penguins zone and throws it behind the net to the left corner (cont.), gets the puck from McDonagh, gets into position at the top of the zone as Crosby skates out to him, then takes a slapshot thatD. Moore – gets to the puck in the left corner and moves it up to McDonagh at the left pointR. McDonagh – holds the puck as Malkin pressures him, then passes the puck to the right point for Klein

Pittsburgh FaultsS. Crosby – gets caught too deep in the defensive zone, which allows Klein to move the puck towards the middle of the ice and take his ideal shotM. Fleury – shifts a little too far across the crease when he’s trying to get set for Klein’s shot, and thus isn’t on his best angle and can’t make the save